Imagine Dragons 'Starfield' video game anthem will beam to Earth from the moon

The ultra-popular rock band Imagine Dragons might be among the most ubiquitous pop groups on the entire planet, and now their melodic art is headed off-planet to the moon for a first-ever musical broadcast back to Earth as part of the upcoming Intuitive Machines IM-2 moon lander mission.

Via their collaboration with Bethesda Softworks on the expansive sci-fi adventure video game, "Starfield," Imagine Dragons will have their cosmic concert debut as their "Children of Sky (A Starfield Song)" is set to be transmitted from the lunar south pole from a moon-based data center.

That center, designed and operated by Lonestar Data Holdings, will be among the payloads on the private Athena moon lander, currently set to launch atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket as early as Feb. 26, 2025.

Imagine Dragons - Children of the Sky (a Starfield song) [Official Music Video] - YouTube

Watch On

Lonestar and Imagine Dragons hope to get the public excited about space exploration with the event. "Our goal is to inspire the next generation of kids to be excited about the future of space and technology, which is why we chose 'Children of the Sky' as the first song in history to be broadcast from the moon," Lonestar investor Ryan Micheletti said in a statement.

"Children of the Sky" was performed live for the first time during the final stop on Imagine Dragons’ Loom World Tour at the Hollywood Bowl on Oct. 27, 2024, with a one-night performance accompanied by the L.A. Film Orchestra, with arrangements from distinguished video game composer Inon Zur ("Starfield," "Fallout," "Dragon Age").

Regarding how the emotional anthem will be broadcast, it's slated to be beamed back home to Earth from Lonestar's commercial data center after it hitches a ride to the moon aboard the Intuitive Machines IM-2 mission lander named Athena.

This new Lunar Data Center, Freedom, will become the first of its kind sent to the moon and will play a significant role in offering "Disaster Recovery and Resiliency as a Service (RaaS) premium data backup services," and the latest in edge processing capabilities, Lonestar said in the statement.

Bethesda and Lonestar also joined forces for a sweepstakes campaign where one person will be awarded an all-expenses paid trip to Florida's Space Coast to witness SpaceX launch the IM-2 mission. The sweepstakes ended last week.

Per the rules and regulations, a lucky winner will be allowed to bring a "plus one" to the historic Cape Canaveral launch site with two roundtrip plane tickets, one hotel room with four nights' stay, ground transportation voucher to the lift-off site, and a five-day per diem stipend for food and souvenirs.